walter bjorkman, writer, lets plain wrap get to know him better. this is the fifty-sixth installment of plain wrap’s interview series in which plain wrap interviews all its facebook friends. thank you, walter bjorkman.

1. Tell us about yourself?

1. At the top of the subway stairs a line took me down into the depths of the tunnel, musky grays with vile creatures darting out of corners. It proceeded out into a sky of late Autumn sun desperately clinging to life in a shroud of winter air. It veered up five flights to a sweltering summer night on the roof, Sande in my arms, the barely moving air holding back suffocation from rotting streets below. It climbed a ladder to the stars where I rode a moonbeam to other galaxies. On the other side of the universe it took me to a tropical beach with piñas and niñas waiting for my delight. It boarded a catamaran sailing me back to the city, now in a Cuban-Chinese on eighth avenue, ropa vieja on my chin as fat ladies danced in the laundromat next door. It boarded a bus that clanged its way up to a bucolic meadow where people laughed, threw frisbees and fucked out of sight of police. A pelican picked up the line, drawing lazy patterns in the now gloriously blue sky, swooping me back to the station.

2. Have you read any good books lately?

2. None, really, most of my reading now is online poetry & short fiction.

3. Why did you leave your last job?

3. It left me. They spent a lot of money treating us great, flying 2,000 people out to San Francisco for 3 days of private concerts by big names, winery tours, cruise of the bay, and when the next economic crunch came they let go all employees with less than 3 years.

4. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?

4. I had been working as editor on two journals, Voices & 52|250 that had intentional ends, which exposed me a lot of short fiction, and increased my design and html skills. Right now I am Associate Editor of THRUSH Poetry Journal, under the leadership of Founder and Editor in Chief Helen Vitoria, who I consider to be one of the best modern day poets. Working with her and being exposed to her incredible work has opened my poetry up to places I never imagined and has made me a much better poet.

5. Tell us about the most fun you have had in life?

5. A child of the city autumns, winters and springs this young boy spent summers in heaven in a bungalow bare-boned but strong built by my Father’s own strong raw-boned hands near the shores of the Sound, on top of a hill where dogwoods and black cherry trees abound outhouse, no plumbing or phone, walking two miles for mail yet this boy and his brother had no cares fishing in Miller’s Pond for crappies just spit-wadded bread on the hook Scottie’s – the grocery store in a big old wooden shack, Sunday funnies and picking only one from the candy rack my Father, in Brooklyn, to work through the week we waited and watched his arrival in the quiet retreat of this land we would hunt for huckleberries in the woods then come back and eat them
found big box-turtles to keep in a chicken-wire pen but by morning they had always escaped screened-in porch Parcheesi on those bucolic nights while watching the fire-flies flicker their lights as boys we didn’t know we were poor – ruled by the forces of childhood, we felt free and protected

Thanks,

Walter